Son of Ice
by its-CM10
Summary: The Flash is the most reliable babysitter Captain Cold has ever had. (Leonard has a kid AU)


"Everybody freeze!"

Captain Cold burst his way into the bank. He wasn't really a fan of bank heists, the police got there too quick, but ever since he and his Rogues' had got their hands on these wonderful weapons his horizons had broadened. Anyway, banks were always a way to make a large and nigh-on-untraceable score.

People ran for cover, and Lisa shot him a withered look. As much as she liked the show, she thought the puns were a bit much.

Whilst Lisa and Mick headed towards the vaults, Leonard jumped up onto a table. "No heroics here, people. Let us take the money and go. You will lose nothing, this bank is insured." He fired his gun at the opposite table, freezing it instantly. "You do not want to-"

He was cut short as his phone started ringing. He looked down towards his pocket in confusion. He only had one number set up to circumvent the silent mode.

"Glider!" He called. "Get over here and keep an eye of these wonderful people. I've got a call to take."

Lisa looked confused, but followed his orders. The heist had been planned to perfection, and this wasn't a part of the plan. Was it the Flash?

Leonard jumped down from his table after helping his sister up, and then practically ran to a quiet corner and answered the phone.

"What's wrong?" He asked, voice strained.

"It's ok," his babysitter responded. "Michael's fine. But something's come up at home and I've had to leave. He's just sitting there watching television right now, but you should get back here as soon as possible."

Leonard was pissed. "You… You left my child, _my son_ , alone?"

"I'm sorry, Len, but I don't have time to explain. I've got to go." And with that she hung up on him. The woman he trusted to keep his kid safe. He was going to kill her. He was going to tie her up and freeze every part of her body one small segment at a time.

But there was nothing he could do right now. He was at least an hour away from home, and if his timing was right it would take him around half an hour to get past the police who were even now pulling up outside. But his son was alone. What if he hurt himself? God, he was an idiot. He knew he should've had a back-up in case something like this ever happened.

He scrolled through his phone, looking at his contacts and wondering who he could trust to get there fast and not let anything slip. Definitely none of the metahumans he'd set free - Shawna was the closest but even then she'd probably hold it against him. He couldn't tell anyone from the underworld. His phone stopped on a number that he wasn't even supposed to have.

There was no other option. He pressed dial.

Barry was taking a much needed rest day when he heard his phone ringing from the other side of the room. He picked it up in a flash, and held it between his ear and shoulder as he moved back towards the couch.

"Barry?"

He froze for a moment. The voice was tinged with panic, but he still recognised it.

"Snart?! How did you get this number?"

"That doesn't matter right now. I need you…" There was a pause and a sigh on the other end of the phone. "I need you to do me a favour. Now."

Barry almost laughed, but something in the other man's voice stopped him. "What do you want?"

Snart rattled off an address, and Barry wrote it down on the memo pad on the coffee table. "I need you to get there right now."

"Is this some kind of trap, Snart? I'm not just going to follow wherever you point me."

"No, no. It's not a trap. It's…" Another pause, this one even longer than the last. "It's my son. He's alone, and I need someone there to watch him."

Barry was stunned into silence. Leonard Snart had a son?

"Please, Barry. He's only four. He could get hurt."

Barry nodded, and then realised that Snart couldn't see him. "OK, I guess. I'll go keep an eye on him."

There was a sharp intake of breath from the other side of the phone. "Thank you. Thank you, Barry."

He hung up the phone, taking a second to sort out what had just happened. Had Captain Cold just called him to be an emergency babysitter? What the hell?

He picked up the memo pad from the coffee table. The house was at least an hour away by car, but he could probably be there inside a few minutes. He didn't call his team, knowing they'd stop him. Snart had sounded worried. Genuine. He'd sounded scared.

Barry didn't care who's it was, he wasn't about to leave a young child all on his own.

He was at the house two minutes later. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting - maybe a dark warehouse full of thugs? - but it definitely wasn't this. This was a proper house, white picket fence and everything. There were even toys strewn about the front yard.

He walked in, phasing through the door when he couldn't find a key, and looked around, eventually finding what he was looking for.

Curled up into a ball on a three-seater couch was a little boy. He had dark curly hair and tan skin, and he was 100% asleep. Barry smiled, not really sure what to do. The kid even looked like Snart. He pulled at his phone and found the number Snart had called him from, sending a text saying that everything was fine and the boy was asleep.

Leaving the kid to his nap - what even was his name? - he wandered around the house, curious as to how the mighty Captain Cold lived. For the most part it was completely normal, although with an unhealthy amount of frozen meals and ice cream. The only thing that would suggest this was anything other than a normal family home was the locked office at the back of the house. Barry phased through the door, not wanting to tamper with the locks, and found there wasn't much in there. Snart was smart about that, at least. A few blueprints that he could have legally obtained, a few rental contracts to apartment across Central City (no doubt safe houses) and absolutely nothing that would go beyond circumstantial evidence in a court of law.

After quickly stopping into the living room to check the boy was still sleeping peacefully, he went upstairs. There were three bedrooms, two probably belonging to Leonard and Lisa, one obviously a child's. It was decorated all in blue and white, with pictures of snowmen and other winter related objects. Barry couldn't help but laugh a little at that. The name "Michael" was painted onto the back wall in gold, and drawings had been stuck up all around the room. There was even one of a guy in a red suit with a yellow lightning bolt on the front. On one of the chests of drawers there was a photo, something Barry was never expecting to see - Leonard and Lisa Snart standing there smiling, with the little boy in Lisa's arms, playing with her hair.

It was strange to see them in such a normal way. Although Barry supposed they probably would have found it strange to know that the Flash spent his days watching Netflix and eating Dorito's in his underwear.

He walked back down to the living room and perched on the couch opposite the small boy. He had no idea what to do with himself. He was glad he'd decided to search the house in normal speed, because it had taken a good twenty minutes and that was twenty minutes less time he'd have to spend in this house. He hadn't even thought to ask when Snart would be back or what he was doing. It was about then that he realised Snart was probably involved in some sort of crime right now. Barry switched on the television, hoping to maybe catch a glimpse of what was going on on the news.

And that was when the boy woke up.

"Where my da?" A little voice chirped up, and Barry's head spun towards it.

"Your dad? He's, uh, at work." Barry had no idea how to talk to children.

The little boy nodded seriously, and clambered over to where Barry was seated, curling up against him. "Who you?"

Well that was a hard one to answer. "I'm your dad's friend. My name is Barry."

The kid smiled widely and looked up at him. "Barry." He turned back to the television. "I want to watch the lion film."

"Uh, ok?" Barry said, not really sure what the kid meant but not wanting to say no. He navigated through the menu's on the television and eventually found the list of saved films. It was entirely Disney, and thankfully _The Lion King_ was near the top. Barry turned it on and the kid clapped with delight.

They sat there for a while watching the movie, Michael asking questions and Barry doing his best to answer them, and Barry just tried to picture Leonard Snart in this position. It didn't work. After maybe half an hour the kid climbed down from the couch and pulled out two toy dinosaurs from one of the cupboards. He walked over and handed one to Barry. "This one is a called a t-rex," he said, lifting up the one in his hand, "but I don't know what that one is."

Barry looked at it for a second, trying to remember from when he had dinosaur toys himself. "I think it's called a triceratops."

Michael didn't say anything before attacking Barry's triceratops with his t-rex.

They had only been playing dinosaurs for about 15 minutes when Barry heard the front door open. And then next thing he knew Captain Cold was in the room, still wearing his signature parka and goggles, and Cold Gun in his hand. Barry tensed up, but Leonard wasn't looking at him. He dropped his gun, letting it thud heavily to the floor, and pulled off his goggles as he crossed the room and pulled the kid into his arms, almost smothering him in the huge jacket.

"I'm so sorry, Michael. I will never let you be on your own again." He said, face pressed up against his son's shoulder.

The boy just giggled. "I was playing dinosaurs with Barry!"

It was only then that Leonard seemed to realise that Barry was there. He stiffened slightly, and the put his son on the floor. "Auntie Lisa is at the door, why don't you go say hello?"

Michael ran out to find her, and Leonard turned to face Barry. "We should talk."

AN: This was first posted on AO3 as two separate chapters. There will be more regular updates over there.


End file.
